Cost of living comparison

compared to

Mexico City vs. Sao Luis Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 68.7% more expensive than Sao Luis.

Restaurants: pay 76.2% more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 54.5% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 13.4% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 83.8% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 55.5% more in Mexico City

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Mexico City are more expensive than in Sao Luis. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Mexico City.

Mexico City vs. Sao Luis Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Sao Luis, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 76.2% more for restaurants

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.06 R$32.94	$10.86 MX$197.31	+79.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.52 R$35.47	$8.82 MX$160.32	+35.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 R$5.57	$1.73 MX$31.47	+69.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 R$3.21	$1.30 MX$23.70	+121.0%
Average			+76.2%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.5% more for groceries

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.93 R$10.47	$2.63 MX$47.71	+36.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.81 R$26.18	$5.04 MX$91.60	+4.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.93 R$21.35	$6.54 MX$118.83	+66.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 R$10.61	$2.61 MX$47.38	+33.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.82 R$9.88	$3.80 MX$69.15	+109.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 R$4.90	$1.37 MX$24.88	+52.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 R$3.24	$0.80 MX$14.54	+34.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.53 R$2.90	$0.97 MX$17.69	+82.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 R$3.75	$0.91 MX$16.47	+31.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 R$3.06	$0.96 MX$17.42	+70.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 R$3.03	$0.99 MX$18.07	+78.2%
Average			+54.5%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.4% less for transportation

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.92 R$21.33	$5.14 MX$93.37	+31.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$36.34 R$197.65	$19.54 MX$355.17	-46.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,303.66 R$105,000.31	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	+3.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.64 R$41.56	$4.42 MX$80.42	-42.1%
Average			-13.4%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.29 R$99.50	$30.93 MX$562.20	+69.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$401.56 R$2,184.22	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	+168.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$218.95 R$1,190.94	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	+209.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.25 R$333.18	$37.36 MX$679.03	-39.0%
Average			+102.0%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$214.29 R$1,165.60	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	+100.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,472.11 R$24,325.57	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	+143.7%
Average			+122.2%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 83.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.96 R$10.64	$3.26 MX$59.19	+66.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.11 R$11.49	$3.81 MX$69.31	+80.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.24 R$12.16	$4.34 MX$78.93	+94.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$20.46 R$111.31	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	+185.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.08 R$38.52	$6.51 MX$118.39	-8.0%
Average			+83.8%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.5% more for clothing

	Sao Luis	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.65 R$248.32	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	+33.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.82 R$265.55	$48.08 MX$873.77	-1.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$55.16 R$300.02	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	+91.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.90 R$304.07	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	+98.4%
Average			+55.5%

Sao Luis vs. Mexico City - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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